


Wraith Gifts

by Blue_Night



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Allies To Lovers, Awkward Conversations, Christmas Presents, Confessions, Developing Relationship, Feelings Realization, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Trapped on a Planet, Wraith (Stargate)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:43:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9066367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/pseuds/Blue_Night
Summary: John and Todd are trapped on a lonely planet waiting for their rescue on Christmas' day. To distract himself from missing the Christmas party in Atlantis, John starts a conversation about Christmas gifts with Todd that leads to some unexpected revelations...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoForGoals](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoForGoals/gifts), [Dulinneth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dulinneth/gifts), [mariothellama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariothellama/gifts), [Janie94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janie94/gifts).



> My dear GoForGoals, I enjoy your wonderful and unique Wraith story 'For a better future' so much, and it is about time to gift you with a Wraith story myself. I hope you will like this oneshot about my first OTP I ever posted anything about. :-)
> 
> My dear Dulinneth, I'm so happy and grateful that we've met here in this fandom, Merry Christmas to you, I hope you will like this story about John and Todd. :-)
> 
> My dear mariothellama, thank you so much for liking my Wraith stories as much as my stories about our beloved BVB boys. Have fun reading this silly oneshot about Wraith Christmas gifts! :-)
> 
> My dear Janie94, I was serious about my break from the football fandom despite the few exceptions I've made to keep my promises, so my gift for you belongs to the other main fandom I'm writing for. I have no clue whether or not you will like this story about my first OTP, you've once mentioned that you are familiar with Stargate at least a little bit, but I know that my beloved Wraith are not everybody's cup of tea. This story doesn't include anything edgy (at least I think so), so I hope you will have fun reading this even if you don't like Wraith that much. Todd is a very special Wraith, and I love writing him. :-)
> 
> My dear readers, it has been an awful long time since I have written something about one of my absolute favorite OTPs ever, and I am not sure whether or not I did this right. If you liked this oneshot about John and Todd, please let me know and give me kudos and/or comments, I would be really grateful to know what you think about it.
> 
> Merry Christmas to all of you, enjoy reading it! <33

“This Dart will never fly again, I am lucky that I made it out of it altogether,” John stated with a shrug, leaning against the thick green-brown trunk of a tree as he watched the tall creature he had released from the buffer of the small spaceship before his crash landing stalking towards it to check if there was any chance to get the Dart back into space.

“You could have been more careful instead of crashing it completely,” the Wraith with the tousled white mane gave back, his voice a low growl which didn't reveal whether or not he was pissed of by the demolition of their only possibility to leave this planet again – a fact the alien didn't know at this point.

“You always have such a nice way of saying 'thank you', Todd,” John drawled with a smirk that didn't really reach his wary hazel-green eyes. “I should have gotten used to your truly unique behavior a rather long time ago, but somehow I find myself hoping for a warm handshake and a heartfelt thanks again and again, just to be disappointed by you once more.”

The ancient male with the greenish skin and the star-like tattoo around his left eye threw a brief glance over his shoulder before busying himself with checking the Wraith Dart again. “Your sense of humor however never fails to amaze me, Sheppard,” he retorted with a slightly mocking undertone in his multi-layered voice. “But it can't be too bad if you're still able to joke with me. How long will it take to reach the Stargate?” the Wraith then changed the topic, and John pushed himself away from the tree with a sigh as he prepared himself to tell the other male the truth.

“There is no Stargate on this planet.” He raised his hand in a calming gesture when Todd let out a low growl of annoyance. “But I managed to send a short message to Atlantis before we crashed, they should be here within the next two or three days – if everything goes smoothly.”

Todd's stiff figure released some tension as he slowly turned around to observe the human colonel with impassive yellow-golden cat's eyes. “I see. Are you sure that the message has gone through?”

John shrugged again. “As sure as I can be under these circumstances. The answer was cut when I went down, but I think that they have gotten the coordinates of this planet before the contact broke.”

“You could really be more careful with our technology, Sheppard. You seem to draw pleasure out of crashing our ships.” Todd rolled his shoulders under his black coat and turned away from the damaged Dart to cross the small clearing and step beside John, regarding him with his head cocked to the side.

John did his best to scowl up at him, narrowing his eyes. “And you could be more careful with getting into trouble by letting yourself be trapped by hostile Wraith, Todd. Somehow, this seems to have become a weird habit of you lately. Not to mention that you really could show more gratitude for me coming to your rescue – again, how I want to point out,” he snapped back, folding his arms across his chest. “After all, I put myself into lethal danger when I came on board this hostile Hive all by myself to save you from being drained by its not so nice Queen. I don't think that anybody else would have gotten you out of the Hive and into the buffer of a Dart without being shot! It's not my fault that our Dart was hit by one of your Wraith weapons when we tried to escape so I had to land it with malfunctioning controls. You're lucky that I could release you from the buffer before the pretty rough landing, which was much more uncomfortable for me than for it was for you, by the way.”

The colonel with the hazel-green eyes rubbed his neck that hurt pretty bad from the crash.

Todd narrowed his eyes. “Are you injured, Sheppard?” he wanted to know, stepping a little bit closer as if he wanted to touch him. John instinctively stepped back almost hitting the tree and gifted him with a crooked smile. “Nothing serious. I'm fine, don't worry.”

The human male looked around with pursed lips. “We should search for another place to stay until Atlantis comes to our rescue, maybe we will find a cave we can use as a shelter, this place is too exposed for my liking.”

“I agree with you, Sheppard.” Todd brushed the dust from his heavy black coat and gestured to the green hills visible in the distance. “We should try this direction. After you, Sheppard, I will watch your back.”

John snorted but obeyed, starting off towards the green hills. “I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be a promise or rather a threat, Todd.”

The Wraith's chuckle tickled the short hairs at the nape of his neck, and John had to suppress a strange shiver running along his spine.

“A promise of course, Sheppard, only a promise.”

 

***

 

They had marched through the wilderness for some hours, both of them busied with their own thoughts, and John had found himself grateful for the annoying Wraith's company and Todd's capability of staying silent when he had nothing important to say instead of filling the long hours with meaningless chattering like so many humans did, at least when they didn't belong to the military.

The tall Wraith commander had for once kept his promise and watched his back, bending thicker branches and twigs to the side to make it easier for the human in front of him without John having to ask him. The hazel-eyed colonel had shot him quick looks now and then, and the expression on Todd's face had been unreadable each time he had done so, John guessing that his alien companion's attention was focused on their surroundings to learn about possible dangers before it was too late.

After all, Wraith were hunters by nature, their senses much sharper than the senses of the humans these creatures normally hunted down, and Todd was also old and experienced enough to have developed a good sixth sense when it came to risks and dangers.

At least he should have developed such a sixth sense over the millennia, thought John as he now tried to make himself comfortable in the small and dark but dry and rather warm cave they had found one hour ago. The colonel inwardly shook his head about Todd's astonishing ability of getting himself into trouble again and again, expecting his reluctant human allies to save him as oftentimes as he managed to let himself be caught by either other, hostile Wraith or by the Genii or other humans not very fond of life-sucking creatures.

Sometimes, he had the suspicion that Todd did that on purpose just to find out if John would come after him like he had done far too often over the past couple years, drawing some weird pleasure out of making John risk everything for his Wraith friend's sake.

The young man with the messy dark hair flinched by the unbidden and rather unexpected title. Since when had he started to think of Todd as his friend? John was normally very picky when it came to calling someone his friend, and he froze in place for a short moment, trying to pull himself together again.

“Is everything okay, Sheppard?” Todd's slightly husky voice broke in on his musings, using the very human word 'okay' with natural ease. Todd had always been the most 'human' Wraith John had ever met right from the start, probably due to his long imprisonment in a Genii prison cell, and he had accustomed to his for the Pegasus Galaxy rather uncommon human allies living in Atlantis without any visible problems and to a surprisingly large extent.

“Yes, thank you, I'm only tired. I haven't slept much over the past three days,” John answered after a short pause, frowning by the reproachful sound of his voice. He hadn't meant to sound like this, after all, Todd hadn't asked him to come to his rescue this time, it had been John's own decision to save him when he had heard about Todd's new captivity; and the Wraith had also thanked him for his rescue with honest sincerity before disappearing in the buffer.

“I'm sorry for that, John Sheppard.” If Todd minded his tone, then he didn't let it show as he crouched down beside him. “We will stay here until Atlantis will send a ship to pick us up, and I will take the watches, I don't need as much sleep as you do.”

John leaned back against the hard wall of the cave, pulling a face when a sharp sting shot through his abused vertebra. “Yeah, it's a good thing that you're freshly fed, I guess. Four bulky drones should sate you for a rather long time. It will help you with keeping your hands to yourself,” he joked weakly, suppressing another flinch when he realized how ambiguous the last sentence had been, at least for humans. John wasn't so sure whether or not Wraith were able to understand the meaning behind the term 'keeping one's hands to themselves' as much as humans normally did, even if these humans were actually aliens that lived in another galaxy far away from Earth.

Todd cocked his head to the side again, regarding him closely. “You don't need to worry about me trying to feed on you, John Sheppard,” he said after a few seconds, “we're allies and you came to my rescue, I wouldn't do that to you.”

John snorted disbelievingly, narrowing his eyes. “Me taking you with me when I escaped didn't keep you from feeding on me when we first met, Todd, so stop trying to deceive me and tell me that it would be different this time if you were starving.”

The damn Wraith actually looked hurt. “That was before...” His voice trailed off and he averted his eyes from his companion to put the water bottle and some unknown plants on the stony ground of the cave where John was sitting.

“Before what?” John demanded, but Todd refused to look at him. “Nothing. The circumstances were different back then, I only did it to make sure that both of us would survive, John Sheppard. After all, I gave you back more than I had taken from you.” The ancient commander sounded impassive – too impassive – and John uncomfortably shifted his weight, actually feeling guilty. He bit his lip, but before he could say anything to Todd's statement, the Wraith pointed at the plants and the water bottle.

“There is a creek nearby, we won't run out of water, it is clear and you can drink it without fear, Sheppard. I recognized these plants, they are eatable and nourishing, I recommend you to eat them and save your energy bars as long as possible. You should rest now, I will check the area but stay close by, just in case.”

John swallowed and smiled at his companion. “Thank you, Todd,” he said before closing his eyes and this time, he really meant it.

 

***

 

John had slept for some hours despite the hard ground and the rather uncomfortable position, and he felt much better when he woke up again.

Todd sat across from him, leaned against the opposite wall of the small cave with his eyes closed, but John could tell by the tension in his body that the Wraith didn't sleep but most likely listened inwardly for the presence of other Wraith approaching the planet.

“You're awake again, Sheppard, feeling any better?” the commander remarked without opening his eyes when he felt the colonel's questioning glance upon him.

“Yes, thank you.” John looked around, but he couldn't see much because darkness had fallen over the half of the planet where they were stranded, a very dark night.

“We can make a campfire, there are no predators that could become dangerous for us within our range.” Todd's yellow-golden eyes glimmered in the blackness, and John stared back with something akin to rapt fascination. “At least no predators except for the one sitting opposite me,” he mumbled, but he didn't mean it as an accusation.

Todd bared his teeth to a wolfish grin. “This predator is no threat to you, John Sheppard, I told you before. I collected some wood.” He bent forward and it didn't take long until a small, friendly fire lit up the cave, bathing the creature watching him in its orange light.

John glanced at his watch to distract himself from the sight of the Wraith, and a small sigh escaped his lips when he noticed the date. “I'm ruining it for them again,” he mused, and Todd curiously tilted his head to the side.

“You ruined what for whom, Sheppard?” he inquired, his hands resting comfortably in his lap. John hesitated but then shrugged his shoulders. They couldn't do much, and he also couldn't sleep the entire time, so talking to each other seemed to be the better option.

“Christmas. I ruined Christmas for the rescue party,” he explained, crossing his legs and taking one of the plants to chew on it. It tasted sweeter than he had expected it, a good sign, because poisonous plants normally didn't taste that sweet.

“I told you that they are eatable. Where would be the sense of poisoning you, John Sheppard, trapped here alone on this planet and having to explain your death to our rescuers?”

John truly hated it that Todd always read him that easily. “I didn't think that you would try to poison me on purpose, Todd. But you could have made a mistake with these plants.”

Todd shrugged, another human gesture he had internalized. “Hardly. Wraith have a photographic memory. What is Christmas?”

John raised his eyebrow. “I see,” he murmured, “so you remember everything that has happened between us whenever our paths have crossed in the past?” The colonel wasn't really sure what to make out of this revelation.

“Of course, John Sheppard. You are too remarkable to forget anything about you. What is Christmas?” he repeated his question, and John gratefully focused on it, not wanting to think more closely about Todd's dry remark, which could be as much a compliment as it could have been meant as an offense.

“Christmas is one of the most important holidays on Earth,” he explained. “We have several different religions on Earth, and one of them is called Christianity. The Christians celebrate the birth of their rescuer from their sins on Christmas, coming together to have a good time and exchange gifts. This day has become that important over the centuries that most of our different countries celebrate it, even the ones not belonging to this religion. They simply enjoy that they are having a couple of days off from work and can celebrate with their families and friends.”

John hoped that his rather short and clumsy explanation would satisfy the Wraith's curiosity, and by the look on Todd's alien but somewhat handsome male features, the ancient being felt intrigued.

“You're celebrating this Christmas in Atlantis as well, then?” he asked, and John nodded, feeling melancholy all of a sudden. He had never particularly enjoyed celebrating Christmas with his father and his brother, the whole thing a very stiff and rather boring matter, but he remembered the last Christmas party in Atlantis, and he was sad that he couldn't be together with his team that had become his family over the years this time. The presents he had chosen for each of them with great care were still hidden in his wardrobe and instead of being with them, he sat alone and cold trapped on a foreign planet with a dangerous Wraith as his only company.

“I am sorry for having ruined your Christmas, John.” Todd for once sounded serious and honest, and John pulled himself together and smiled briefly at him. “It's not your fault, Todd, it was my decision to follow you. There will be another year.”

“Hm.” Todd didn't look convinced, but luckily didn't push him. “Humans do like to exchange gifts, don't they?” he eventually mused, his eyes glowing interested in the golden shine of the fire.

John embarrassingly eagerly let himself be distracted from his unexpected and ridiculous sorrow about the missed Christmas party. “Yes, we do. We exchange gifts whenever we have the chance to do so on several occasions every year, on our birthdays for example.” He took another plant to nibble at it and sipped from the cool and fresh water. “Wraith don't do that, I guess?”

Todd eyed him thoughtfully. “It's rather difficult to keep track on your birthday over the centuries and millennia, especially when you're living on a Hive that flies from planet to planet, John Sheppard. Our way of counting and measuring time is different from yours,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

John nodded slowly. “Yes, I guess so. What about other occasions? Do male Wraith gift the queens they want to court with something special?”

Now, it was Todd's turn to look melancholy and wistfully. “It's normally the queens gifting a special male with something when he has truly pleased her,” he said, the sad expression replaced with a mocking grin when he continued, his voice dropping to something between a seductive purr and a gleeful chuckle. “I suspect that our special Wraith gifts are nothing you would consider an appropriate present, human.”

John shuddered slightly. “Urgh, probably not. You don't have to explain that further.”

The Wraith nodded with a grin. “I thought so. What kind of presents you humans exchange, Sheppard?” he asked, his natural curiosity winning the upper hand again.

“That depends on the one you want to make happy with your gift. For children, it is rather easy, they love toys, small girls like dolls or plushies for example. It is much more difficult to find the right presents for grown ups. They should be something the presentee can really enjoy, and it should be something unique and personal.”

“I see. That truly sounds difficult.” Todd replied, staring into the flames of the fire as he thought about that for some time. “Would you feel better if I gifted you with something to make up for your missed Christmas party, John Sheppard?”

The Wraith's question came out of the blue, and John found himself gaping at the ancient commander with shocked surprise.

“Uhm thank you, but that's not necessary,” he finally stammered, and Todd actually looked disappointed. Somehow, it was odd how well he had learned to read this special Wraith as well, John thought as he watched several emotions flicker over the other male's face.

Todd didn't listen to him, instead, he pulled a rather large dagger out of its hiding place somewhere underneath his heavy, armor-like coat, handing it to John. “Would this be an appropriate gift?” The sometimes pretty infuriating and confusing Wraith cocked his head to the side, eyeing the colonel with eager expectation.

John stared at the knife. The sheath was adorned with silver threads and a real masterpiece, and the hilt was clearly handmade with greatest care, just like the blade itself hidden in its sheath probably was. It was a beautiful weapon, but it was a weapon, nonetheless, reminding John too much of the fact that he was a soldier. Apart from that, it was a Wraith weapon and John would rather not accept a weapon from any Wraith as a gift.

Todd's expression changed from expectant to dismayed when John did nothing but stare at the dagger. “You don't like it?” he asked, and John finally looked up. “It's a beautiful dagger, Todd, and I appreciate your gesture, but you really shouldn't gift a soldier with a weapon,” he said rather lamely.

Todd pursed his lips, gazing down at his knife. “I see. Even though I am sure that Ronon Dex would think differently about that.”

John snorted. “I really doubt that Ronon would accept a dagger from a Wraith as a Christmas gift!”

“You might be right with that. Hm.” Todd reluctantly put the dagger back where it belonged.

“Something you can enjoy and that has nothing to do with your profession, then,” he mused. “I could give you the Gift of Life. It is the most precious gift Wraith have to give.” The ancient being looked John deep in his eyes, his voice serious and honest, and the colonel was taken aback by the sudden rush of warmth and longing surging through his body.

He actually felt deeply touched by the offer, and he had to clear his throat twice before he could answer to that. His traitorous body reacted forcefully to the prospect of Todd's delicious and precious life-force floating through it, but John reminded himself of the fact that the Wraith sharing his own strength with him would also mean that he had to feed much sooner again, and he shook his head with a regretful smile.

“You're right, Todd, this is surely the most precious gift any living being can offer, and I really want to thank you for offering it to me to make me feel better. But you need your strength and I don't want you having to feed on any other human earlier because of me, so no, I can't accept that gift either.”

Todd pursed his lips again in this strange human way. “This present-thing is truly a difficult kind of matter,” he stated, sounding confused and slightly exasperated. John clenched his fists because he felt the sudden and unwelcome urge to reach out and stroke his arm to comfort him. “You don't have to gift me with anything, Todd. It's nice that you want to do that to make me feel better, but it isn't necessary. We have made it out of the Hive in one piece and this is gift for me enough.”

“If you say so.” Todd closed his eyes and John did the same, silence falling over the cave. The hazel-eyed colonel was just about to drift off, when Todd suddenly spoke up again. “I could give you my heart, John Sheppard. It would be something personal you can hopefully enjoy, and it has nothing to do with you being a soldier, nor would it endanger other humans. I do believe that this would be the perfect gift!”

 

***

 

John's eyes flew open again, and he gaped at the tall creature watching him with a dropped jaw. “W-what?” he stammered, not sure whether or not his ears had played tricks on him. Maybe, he was already dreaming?

“You heard me, John. I could give you my heart.”

“Uhm, thank you, but what makes you think that I could want your heart?” John asked incredulously. “Assuming that you a) have a heart in this sense of the meaning and b) you really know what you have actually offered me, I mean.”

Todd looked offended. “Of course us Wraith have a heart in this sense of the meaning. What did you think, John Sheppard? That we are only heartless monsters not caring about other living beings? After all, us Wraith are much closer to our brethren than humans will ever be because of our telepathy, and my kin is not meant to live on their own and alone without others. We share the feelings of our brethren in a way you can hardly imagine, human. And yes, I am aware of the true meaning of my offer, John Sheppard.” The Wraith tightened his arms still folded across his chest in a way that John got the impression that he tried to protect himself from being hurt.

Which was ridiculous, of course, wasn't it? Todd surely hadn't made his unexpected offer because he had truly fallen in love with him, right? After all, he was Wraith, a tricky old bastard manipulating John and his human allies whenever it pleased him, using them shamelessly to get what he wanted and rarely being completely honest about his real motives when he tried to lure them into another adventure to his own advantage.

The mere thought of Todd offering him his heart because he wanted a closer relationship with him made John shiver with disgust – it could only be disgust what made him shiver, couldn't it? The hazel-eyed colonel bit his lip, unsure how to react to this pretty scary turnout of a conversation that had started as a rather harmless thing to keep them busied during the long wait for their rescue.

When John realized that Todd was still waiting for him to answer to his offer, he took a deep breath and met the intense golden gaze of his companion. “I'm truly honored by your offer, Todd, at least I guess that I am, but I have to decline your offer again. I don't return your feelings, and there is no way that we could ever be together the way you have suggested it.”

Why the heck did his voice sound regretful instead of disgusted? John bit his lip, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, his body quivering with his inner turmoil.

“I see,” Todd said for the umpteenth time of this long and pretty awkward conversation. “So you're actually trying to tell me that you came to my rescue – again, saving me from being drained by a hostile and dangerous, powerful queen all alone just because of some strange sense of politeness and responsibility, John Sheppard? That you chose saving me over celebrating Christmas with your team - which has become your family more than your father and your brother have ever been for you - just out of some physical desire?” Todd eyed him with a raised hairless eye-ridge and a slight frown creasing the few wrinkles on the back of his nose more than usually.

John stared at those small wrinkles he knew so well, trying to digest what Todd had just accused him off. “What makes you think that I desire you?” he eventually snapped helplessly, pulling an amused snort from the damn Wraith.

“I can smell your desire whenever we are together, John Sheppard. You might be able to deceive yourself, but not a Wraith, human. Our sense of smell is much better than yours.” He paused, and his voice became almost gentle. “You desired me from the day on we've met, and this hasn't changed over the years, John. But you don't have to fear that I would tell it to anyone or try to force myself upon you, I would never do that. I respect you far too much to do that to you.”

“Uhm, thank you, Todd.” John felt exhausted and dizzy, and he leaned back against the wall, forcing himself to return the Wraith's gaze. “You might be right that I desire you, but we can never be together, and I would be grateful if we could leave this topic be. We are both alive and healthy, and this is gift enough for me.”

Todd considered him silently for a while before he finally nodded. “As you wish, Sheppard. You should sleep, you look exhausted. I will stay awake and watch out.”

John gratefully closed his eyes. “Yes, I know. Thank you, Todd,” he murmured, hesitating before adding an almost inaudible “I am sorry, I truly am.”

Todd's softly whispered: “me too, John Sheppard, me too!” followed him into his dreamless slumber, and for one short moment, the colonel found himself wishing that things would be different.

 

***

 

The _Daedalus_ had come to pick them up in the late evening of the next day, and John had been relieved that Todd had behaved as if they had never had this conversation the night before, going back to business as if nothing had happened.

They had spent the day mostly in companionable silence and focused on exploring the area near their cave and collect more plants, and when the _Daedalus_ had beamed them on board, John's team that had come to their rescue had seen to an impromptu Christmas party on board the space ship, inviting Todd to celebrate with them.

Later, when John had eventually been alone in his quarters in Atlantis, unpacking his bag, John had found Todd's dagger in his rucksack, together with a short note in Todd's remarkable handwriting.

_'You might be a soldier and this might be a weapon, but gifting another male with a handmade dagger is something special in our Wraith culture, a sign of respect and trust. You probably know by now that trust isn't something coming naturally to us, so please accept this gift as a sign of my respect and trust for you. It shall protect you on your missions whenever you're in the need of that, Todd.'_

John had stared at the truly beautiful knife for a rather long time, a huge lump making it hard for him to swallow, and ever since then, he kept the dagger close, sleeping with it hidden under his pillow and carrying it in his belt when he left Atlantis for another mission.

Todd had disappeared for months after the happenings without any other word, and John had to admit that he missed him more and more, asking himself where the Wraith was and if he thought of him as much as he did.

The invitation of a planet they traded with to celebrate one of their most important holidays with them caught John by surprise, because this had never happened before, and his step faltered when he saw Todd waiting for him at the other side of the wormhole with his arms folded before his chest, his face impassive as usual, but his eyes shining with several emotions.

“Todd! It's been a rather long time, hasn't it? I hope you haven't been in trouble over the past months!” he greeted the one who had occupied his thoughts far too much within the past months with a crooked grin and a slight blush coloring his cheeks, and the tall male with the tousled white mane and the star-tattoo gifted him with a toothy grin. “Yes, it has been far too long. You would surely have known if I had, John Sheppard, you always seem to know it when I'm in trouble. I am pleased to meet you again. How have you been?”

“Uhm, fine, thank you. Your – present - has helped me several times,” John said, slowly coming closer. Todd looked down at him, unfolding his arms to point at the small path leading to the village. “That's good, that was my intention. After you, I will watch your back.”

John felt himself relax, following the path in the knowledge that Todd would keep his promise and watch his back whenever he would be in the need of that. The hazel-eyed colonel didn't try to suppress or hide his desire from the Wraith this time, knowing that it would be a hopeless undertaking anyway.

The settlers were excited about their adored Wraith lord and the military leader of the Ancient's city attending their celebration, and John had to admit that he enjoyed himself more than he had first thought he would. Ronon and Teyla were visiting the mainland and Rodney was busied with exploring an ancient facility on another planet, and John had felt lonely when he had packed his things, wishing to have his team by his side. But with Todd sitting by his side, he didn't feel as lonesome as he had felt over the past months, ever since the Wraith had offered him his heart as a Christmas gift and he had declined it in his obstinacy and stupidity.

When the sun was setting and John stood leaned against the thick trunk of a tree beside Todd, hidden in the shadows of the branches and leaves as they watched the settlers dance on the meadow nearby, he finally dared to look at the taller male. The Wraith cocked his head and looked at him when he felt John' gaze upon his face. “You have a question, John Sheppard?”

John blushed. “Ahm, yes. Have you really been serious when you offered me your heart, Todd?”

Todd's eyes shimmered in the light of the setting sun. “What makes you think that I wasn't?” he countered, his voice giving nothing away.

“Hm. So if I told you that I have made up my mind and would like to accept your gift this time, would you offer your heart to me again?” John asked, proud that his voice trembled only slightly.

Todd regarded him with a strange expression. “No, I wouldn't, John Sheppard.”

John swallowed hard, his knees threatening to give in underneath him because of his disappointment. “I see,” he croaked out, hoping that the dawn would hide his paling and the despair showing in his eyes.

“I don't think that you do, John. I can't offer you what you already possess.” Todd sounded amused, his hand around his arm keeping him upright, and it took John several seconds until he realized what Todd had just said.

“So you're giving me a second chance?” he eventually managed to croak out, and the smile the Wraith commander gifted him with in return was a true, beautiful smile instead of his usual mocking grin. “A second chance and a third chance – as many chances as you'll need, John. All I ask from you is that you will offer me your heart in return one day.”

John beamed at him, shifting his weight and turning around to pull the Wraith closer to him. “I think that this can be arranged, Todd, “ he whispered, “it already belongs to you for a rather long time. Just take good care of it, will you?”

Todd wrapped his arms around him and bent his head down for the kiss John had longed for ever since their first meeting without even knowing it. “As long as I'll live, John Sheppard,” he promised gently, and this was a promise Todd would keep, John knew that for sure as he closed his eyes with a happy smile to savor this special first kiss to the fullest, not caring about the settlers still dancing on the now dark meadow.

Love was something that didn't come easily to both of them, but if it came, then it would last for the rest of their lives, because some things were simply meant to be, determined by fate, and John wouldn't fight against his fate any longer, but accept it happily.

After all, being in love with a sometimes infuriating but also pretty infatuating ancient Wraith commander might not be the worst fate of all fates, right?

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Wraith Valentine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9772640) by [Blue_Night](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/pseuds/Blue_Night)




End file.
